If you have two computers and a printer at home and both computers are Windows and are connected to the same network, then you can configure sharing of the printer connected to one computer so that you can also print from the other. With Google Cloud Print this sharing is easier and does not require that the two or all the other computers are connected to the same network.
Cloud Print is a fantastic way to print from any internet location, using any printer, even if it is remote and not connected to that location.
Google Cloud Print also works between PCs connected to the Internet and thousands of kilometers away.
This way you can print any document with your home printer, even without staying at home or sharing a printer among multiple computers .
Google Cloud Print was born as a service to print via the internet from the Google Chrome browser and to print from an Android mobile phone.
Google Cloud Print is now also available as a driver for Windows so that it can be integrated into the system, to print from any program, including Word, Excel or other video writing software.
To share the printer with Google Cloud Print you need:
- a Google Account,
- the Google Chrome browser
- Download and install Cloud Print Service on Windows and Cloud Print Driver .
Now, to avoid any doubt, we make this very clear distinction: if you only want to integrate the existing printer connected to the computer in the Google Cloud Print account, you only need to install the service, if you want to install the Cloud printer as if it were a real one printer on the computer you need to install the driver.
The service connects the printers to the Google account while the driver is used to print via Google Cloud Print making it appear in the list of Windows printers.
To install the Cloud Print Service print service, download from the Chrome browser.
Once the application has been downloaded, click on " Accept and install ", authorize the installation of the service and connect it to the account.
Then launch the service from the Windows Start menu and, when starting the program, first write the Windows user password (NOT that of Google) and register.
The account is then linked, via Chrome, to the Google account.
Finally, you can connect the various printers that will be authorized to be used via the Internet, from other devices or computers.
The Google Cloud Service is started and the window can be closed by pressing the Close button.
If you had previously used Cloud Print, go to the online printer management page to remove any duplicates.
Now you need to install the Cloud Print driver .
Again click the "Accept and install" button and proceed with the quick installation.
After installing the driver, if you open the list of printers, the Google Cloud Print will appear, which is also the default one.
From any program, when you press the Print button, the Cloud Print printer will be used and you can then choose which shared printer to use (if there are more than one).
After selecting a printer, you can also configure the print settings with a screen very similar to the classic one, to choose the number of copies, the paper size, the orientation, etc.
With the Cloud Print service you can therefore share a printer to be used also by other computers or mobile phones.
